how do you view educational technology?

Answer 1

Educational technology is a bipolar situation...a real Jekyll and Hyde. It is filled with conditional / hypothetical "ifs" that make everything super slick and neat....or horribly difficult and grinding to a dead stop in the heartbeat.

For want of the proper cord, disk crash, virus, etc. an entire class goes from light speed to slower than a snail.

Technology is a tool that can be used to enhance the teaching and learning experience. But technology cannot do it alone.

I have seen "smart" classrooms be rendered "brain dead" when faculty are NOT adequately trained to use it. Or just plain cannot get started because of the old Mac vs PC interoperability conflict.

Technology is part of our world...but I also have Plan B "low tech, no tech" capabilities on hand just in case.

In many institution, aging equipment puts students at a major disadvantage as they graduate and get employed. Limited budgets and bureaucratic ineptness often limits the use of educational technology. Maintenance and upgrade issues are monsters and demons that lurk the halls.

Ed technology can be the shining star AND the devil's curse. Strive for a balance to use it when it is available, and to get by when it isn't. The teaching goes on with or without the technology.